Duke University Press
The Duke University Press is a nonprofit university run press that publishes about 150 new books, 60 journals, and multiple digital collections that work toward progress in the publishing industry and transformation in thought. Stemming from Duke University, the press aligns itself with the University’s goal of advancing the frontier of knowledge and contributing to the international scholarly community. Their main goal is to make sure their press supports daring, collaborative, vital, and transformative works that can better the world overall. [1]
The Mission
The press outlines their mission goals on their website. In this description, they explain their goal to spread the ideas of progressive scholarly thinkers in emerging and established fields of knowledge. Their mission is to enrich, create, and spread scholarship that is important to readers working at the heads of the humanities, social sciences, and mathematics fields. As a nonprofit publisher, their overarching mission is to create strong global connections through adaptive and innovative publications that can progress and better the world on a small and large scale.[2]
The History
The Founder
The Duke University Press was originally founded by William T. Laprade in 1921 under the name Trinity College Press before eventually changing its name in 1926. Its most notable early publication was the American Literature journal, which is still in publication today. Four issues a year are put out under this journal which began printing in 1929, making it almost 100 years old. Each journal issue contains articles that examine the work of authors across history as well as deep research into their books. This trend of educational articles being at the forefront of the DUP was a historical stepping stone that has not changed much with time.
The DUP was originally a relatively small press from the 1930s to the late 1970s. During that time, the Press did not publish many works, especially compared to their numbers today. By the 1980s, the Press only published about a dozen books and seven journals annually. This is extremely small compared to their estimated 180 publications today. During these decades, little to no effort was made to increase the Press or the number of publications.
How DUP Progressed
In the early 1980s, however, the Press’s office was moved to the newly renovated Crowell Building, and this change was what the Press needed to expand. The DUP received new resources and new leadership with Richard Rowson. This combination was what finally allowed the Press to expand, and they began steadily adding to its journals and publishing about 60 books a year by the early 1990s.
In 1993, Steven Cohn became the Press’s director—with Stanley Fish, a Duke professor of English and law, serving as executive director from 1994-1998—and the Duke Press moved into Brightleaf Square. The Press at this point began to grow steadily in size as well as reputation.
The Press also developed a heavy international list of publications. In fact, it had the largest collection of international publications among the American University Presses. This sparked their eventual goal of partnerships and global publication opportunities.
Where It Is Today
Maintaining an air of diversity and inclusion, they included book topics such as history, gender and sexuality, anthropology, and cultured studies. Some of their most edited journals also include the Duke Mathematical Journal, History of Political Economy, and Journal of Medieval & Early Modern Studies. This expansion in material covered as well as partnerships acquired allowed the DUP to continue expanding far beyond their original numbers until they reached the much larger publishing industry that has developed today. [3]
Leadership and Ownership
The Heads of the Departments
The Duke University Press is run by a collaborative collection of six individuals who range from published authors to renowned marketing managers. Together, the leadership board oversees the Press from the first draft to the official publication.
The Press is managed and run by Dean Smith. Smith has been Director of Duke University Press since 2019. Beyond that, he has over 30 years of publishing experience. Among this outside experience is scholarly, STM, university press, trade-base realms, and association-based realms. Smith is also a published author, poet, and freelance journalist. In 2021, he released Baltimore Sons, his second collection of poetry. This followed his debut work, American Boy, which was published in 2000. Through Temple University Press, Smith published Never Easy, Never Pretty: A Fan, A City, A Championship Season in 2013.
Throughout his extensive career, Smith has taken on a plethora of roles within the press. These roles include press director, digital platform director, journal publisher, vice president of sales and marketing, society publisher, and director of electronic publishing.
Another vital leader in this press is Allison C. Belan. Belan is the Director for Strategic Innovation and Services at Duke University Press. Belan oversees the Press’s entire technology operation. This includes project and product management and IT.
She began her career at the Press as the Journal’s Production Supervisor. This role provided the necessary education in digital publishing and strategies. In 2011, Belan assumed the role for digital content and publishing strategy of all DUP publications, books, and journals.
The director of editing and design, Amy Ruth Buchanan, oversees all the design and production of the publications at DUP. Arriving at the Press in 1995, she spent most of her career as an award-winning book designer before becoming the design manager and art director for books and journals. She oversees the publication of journals, new books, and reprints. Buchanan works collaboratively to publish all of the Press’s content in various formats such as online or print. She maintains the high-quality standards of design, editing, and manufacture within DUP.
Rob Dilworth had also worked in the publishing industry for over thirty years. He works as the Journals Director within DUP. With this role, Dilworth oversees the Press’s journals program. This requires intense focus on acquisitions of new titles and partnership management as well as supporting the editorial vision and mission of scholarly journalists under his department. He also supports the goal of finding sustainable methods of publications.
Gisela Fosado is the Editorial Director at DUP. Fosado publishes books in a wide range of areas including both humanities and social sciences. She began her career at DUP in 2010 as an Editorial Associate. In 2020, she was named Editorial Director.
The final member of the Duke University Press leadership board is Cason Lynley. Lynley is the Director of Marketing, Sales, & Finance. She came to the Press in 1999 and, since then, held six positions on the Press. In her role as the Director of Marketing, Sales, & Finance, she supports the DUP mission of the search for and spread of scholarly books and journals. She is also a key component in sustaining the financial viability of the Press. [4]
The Editorial Staff
Gisela Fosado is the head of the editing team at DUP. She is further described under the Leadership section of this website. The rest of the staff consists of five other people who all range from Art Directors to Project Managers to Journal Editors. This team is collectively in charge of editing and designing the products which will be available on the website. While this staff is smaller, they head the bulk of the production when it comes to books and journals.
Some of the staff working under Fosado includes Jessica Ryan who is described as media and communicational skilled in Manuscript Editing, Nonfiction, Fiction, Journals, Proofreading, and Production.
The staff on a whole appears to maintain a professional status on the website and on their personal sites such as linkden. Furthermore, the staff remains private from their work lives. This creates the professional and education-focused atmosphere the Press strives for, even within their work environment. However, it also makes details about the staff and their personal tastes difficult to come by.
Beyond the head staff, Duke University Press has around 120 employees at any given time. Most of these employees have some relation to Duke University itself, and go unnamed on the website. They serve as readers and editors to help the mass amount of publications that come through before handing off the promising projects to the higher-ups. Considering the 120 books published a year and the 60 journals, a staff of this size is still considerably smaller than I had expected. It goes to show the dedication and hard work put in by every person on the staff.[4]
- ↑ “Duke University Press.” Duke University Press, www.dukeupress.edu/. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
- ↑ “About.” Duke University Press About, www.dukeupress.edu/about. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
- ↑ Black, Jonathan. “Department Spotlight: Keeping the Press Moving.” Edited by Melissa Kaye, Duke Today, today.duke.edu/2018/07/department-spotlight-keeping-press-moving. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 “Leadership.” Home, www.dukeupress.edu/about/leadership. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
